Flooding makes Woloski Park in Middleboro a paddle-in neighborhood

For residents of an out-of-the-way neighborhood, canoes have become part of the daily commute.

By Michael Burke and Alice C. ElwellThe Enterprise

MIDDLEBORO – Residents of Woloski Park, cut off for five days by flooding, are hoping the waters recede enough on Friday to let them drive out.

“It’s been like that since Sunday,” said Richard Valiard, a Woloski Park resident as he pointed toward overflow from Purchade Brook swallowing the long dirt driveway.

“We’ve been using that canoe,” he explained. “The water’s been up to waist-deep sometimes. I take it out at 5:30 for my kid to get to the bus, he takes it in when he gets home.”

Flooding has been a common problem for the wooded neighborhood, which has been targeted for a buyout under the federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program. If the town is awarded the grant, eight homes will be demolished and the land they are located on along with three vacant lots will be designated as a natural floodplain.

According to the preliminary grant application, the neighborhood requires frequent emergency evacuations, which result in significant costs to the residents and town.

Town officials reason that the risk to life and property, as well as emergency response costs, would be dramatically reduced by the relocation of nearly all the residents in the neighborhood.

The National Weather Service in Taunton does not expect the water to recede until Friday afternoon. A flood warning has been issued for the area until 4:30 p.m. Friday.

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